1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicle fairings, and in particular to a fairing vent and method of installation.
2. Background of the Invention
Open cockpit land vehicles such as motorcycles, motor scooters and mopeds are frequently equipped with fairings to protect the occupants from windblast and the associated forced convection cooling effects. During the winter time, and during cool days, this is a comfort to the vehicle occupants. During the summertime, and during hot days in particular, these faired vehicles can become very hot, and some sort of fairing vent is called for to help keep the vehicle occupants cool.
Many vehicles such as motorcycles are not factory-equipped with fairing cooling vents. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a retrofittable fairing vent which could be quickly and easily installed on existing fairings, in order to provide cooling air to the vehicle occupants.
A number of designs have been proposed to permit fairing ventilation. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,925,231 and 4,457,552 were granted Hamaguchi and Katsuoka respectively for vents which conducted heated air from around the engine to the operator""s foot. Katsuoka ""552 was specifically designed to heat motorcycle cockpits. Hamaguchi ""231 drew air heated by the cylinders into the cockpit, under the rationale that diluted cylinder heated air was better than hot cylinder air with no cooling air whatsoever. Because neither of these patents taught the delivery of unadulterated ventilating air to the vehicle cockpit, the cooling effect disclosed was not optimum.
Mikami et al. was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,825 for a fairing ventilation system incorporating a fan driven by an electric motor. This design suffered from the complexity and cost associated with an installation requiring wiring, power supply, and switching.
Hayes and Fujii et al. were granted U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,479,676 and 4,498,700 respectively. While these patents taught fairing cooling vents, their installation required specific fairing shapes which had to be built into the fairings from the start. Thus, although these inventions disclosed fairing cooling systems, the cost and complexity of completing a retro-fit installation would be prohibitive.
Shields was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,315 for a motorcycle fairing vent means. While this invention appeared to teach a fairing vent, installation was complex, requiring drilling a minimum of two holes per vent for screws to hold support blocks. Thus, while the Shields vent appeared to be retrofittable into existing motorcycle fairings, no quick and easy attachment means was provided to mount the vent to the fairing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fairing vent which is quick and easy to install. Design features allowing this object to be accomplished include a vent body having at least one resilient tab biased away from the vent body, whereby the vent body can be inserted through a fairing cutout, and the at least one resilient tab maintains the fairing vent in position within the fairing cutout. Advantages associated with the accomplishment of this object include fast installation, and the attendant cost savings.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fairing vent which can be opened or closed. Design features allowing this object to be accomplished include a louver rotatably attached to a body within a duct. A benefit associated with the accomplishment of this object is enhanced vehicle occupant comfort.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a fairing vent which provides ventilation air uncontaminated by engine heat. Design features enabling the accomplishment of this object include a fairing cutout in a location where engine heat will not enter a fairing vent disposed in the fairing vent. Advantages associated with the realization of this object include better cooling, and consequent enhanced vehicle occupant comfort.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fairing vent which is simple. Design features allowing this object to be accomplished include a louver rotatably attached to a body, and at least one resilient tab. Benefits associated with the accomplishment of this object include decreased failure rate, and simple maintenance and repair.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a fairing vent which is inexpensive and simple to construct. Design features allowing this object to be achieved include the use of components made of readily available, inexpensive materials. Benefits associated with reaching this objective include reduced cost, and hence increased availability.